All the Jedi and Sith should have been without hands, NO EXCEPTIONS

[Haerthan]

You know how the Jedi and Sith lightsabers had no crossguard? In both the official canon and Legends canon? Well if we follow Western combat styles and some Far Eastern ones as well the Jedi and the Sith should have all lost hands.

Bear with me here. Western swords, Middle Eastern swords and Far Eastern swords (yes Japan included) all had crossguards. That was done in order to stop the enemy from sliding their blade along yours and chop of your hand or fingers, winning by default.

Now knowing what we know of lightsabers (cutting power that is unrivalled in the universe) only thing the Jedi/Sith had to do was slide their blade alongside the other blade and slice the hands of the enemy. So all the freaking Force-using idiots in SW should all be cripples. Since they were also stupid enough to not wear any sort of armour (after the Sith Empire of KOTOR and SWTOR died)

Rant over.

Captcha: miles to go.

 

[Foolery]

Kay. Well, you'll be pleased to know that the teaser trailer for Episode VII showed a Sith with a cross-guard saber. And then Star Wars geeks raged over it. Yeah.

 

[tippy2k2]

Maybe lightsabers don't slide like that?

I win!

Now I'm sure it happens but every time I see a light saber fight in the movies, most of the time it's *Block Block Block...the saber doesn't ever seem to slide. The blades contact, the blade sticks, and the fighters pull the blades back to try to stab their opponent in the face.

Hell, CAN the blades slide? Because we seem to get the "Both opponents hold the blades and grunt at each other while they battle for leverage" scene a lot and if the blades slide, wouldn't the mildest flick of the wrist cause you both to fly out of control as your blades slip from each other?

 

[Zontar]

The lightsaber when it was created in the original trilogy wasn't a weapon of war, it was a ceremonial one. It's the reason why Luke often used a blaster in episodes 5 and 6. It also was not a Sith weapon, the only Sith that wasn't a former Jedi laughing at it and calling it a Jedi weapon. It's only with the prequels and EU that it was turned into an actual weapon of war and one which wasn't just used by Jedi.

 

[J Tyran]

A crossguard is also to stop the wielders hand from slipping down onto the blade, Jedi would have doubly chopped of their own fingers and/or hand. Unless they have such supreme control that never happens, in which case that invalidates all of the angry fanboy arguments about that Lightsabre in the new Star Wars film.

 

[Erttheking]

I think Jedi and Sith don't slip because of BS Force powers. I think the EU even said a non Jedi or Sith can't even use a light saber in combat.

 

[Asita]

I think Jedi and Sith don't slip because of BS Force powers. I think the EU even said a non Jedi or Sith can't even use a light saber in combat.

Well, not practically, at least. For pretty much this reason:

Spoiler

It's bringing a sword to a gun fight.

 

[DoPo]

I think Jedi and Sith don't slip because of BS Force powers. I think the EU even said a non Jedi or Sith can't even use a light saber in combat.

I know only Jedi can make them. At least according to Jedi Academy where your character is accepted in the titular institution after building one from scratch, thus showing he was sensitive to the Force.

And also, yeah - how are lightsabers even SUPPOSED to slip? I don't really know much about them but they seem to be made by light...as the name suggests. Well, obviously not the same principle as a flash light, but some sort of laser. Even then, it appears to have some amount of resistance in the blade, at least when it comes to other lightsabers - the blades connect and stop - were they "ordinary" (at least according to our knowledge) lasers, I think the blades would have just passed through each other.

At any rate, I do not know of any property that would make the lighsabers slip. At least when it comes to other lightsabers.

The lightsaber when it was created in the original trilogy wasn't a weapon of war, it was a ceremonial one. It's the reason why Luke often used a blaster in episodes 5 and 6. It also was not a Sith weapon, the only Sith that wasn't a former Jedi laughing at it and calling it a Jedi weapon. It's only with the prequels and EU that it was turned into an actual weapon of war and one which wasn't just used by Jedi.

But didn't Obi-Wan use the lighsaber in the fight with Darth Vader? Sure, they were both Jedi but, then again, if it were a ceremonial weapon, wouldn't it made more sense if the people who knew that would have used something different? Also, I think it makes more sense that Luke wasn't using the lightsaber as much because he wasn't trained with it. Not that extensively, anyway - he didn't even get that much Jedi training - mostly a crash course on a slightly higher level than a book on "Teach yourself in a week".

 

[Redryhno]

I think Jedi and Sith don't slip because of BS Force powers. I think the EU even said a non Jedi or Sith can't even use a light saber in combat.

That's not really true. Non-Force users could use them, it just took a huge amount of training to be proficient enough with them it was just easier to use a vibro weapon, though you weren't really able to fight lightsaber users or things of that sort without special construction. Well, that and how difficult it was to make one due to the finite resource of the crystals, which is why most Jedi training centers were also a planet with a heavily guarded crystal outgrowths. Synth-Crystals were used, but were of a much lower quality and made the lightsaber have a shorter lifespan before having to replace it and other parts of the weapon due to degradation.

The only thing the Jedi really had against someone with a gun was the mix of BS force powers, the plasma/forcefield of the lightsaber, and extensive training to get the precision needed to deflect the bolts,bullets,blasters,etc.

And to be fair, lightsaber duels were originally designed to just be slightly more dangerous kendo fights, where sliding - if I remember right - is an illegal move and doesn't do much in terms of winning beyond a slightly better angle. The prequels took it a bit farther by adding in the jumping, centrifugal force, and speed, but still was mostly just slamming two lightsabers together.

If nothing else, you can argue that the forcefield that contains the plasma inside doesn't allow the users to slide much and that explains why there's so much effort put into holding the weapons like they are.

Edit: But considering the decanonization of the EU, who the hell knows anymore, I just think the crossguard looks silly and really inefficient personally, why design something like that except to screw the user at some inopportune time?

 

[Zontar]

The lightsaber when it was created in the original trilogy wasn't a weapon of war, it was a ceremonial one. It's the reason why Luke often used a blaster in episodes 5 and 6. It also was not a Sith weapon, the only Sith that wasn't a former Jedi laughing at it and calling it a Jedi weapon. It's only with the prequels and EU that it was turned into an actual weapon of war and one which wasn't just used by Jedi.

But didn't Obi-Wan use the lighsaber in the fight with Darth Vader? Sure, they were both Jedi but, then again, if it were a ceremonial weapon, wouldn't it made more sense if the people who knew that would have used something different? Also, I think it makes more sense that Luke wasn't using the lightsaber as much because he wasn't trained with it. Not that extensively, anyway - he didn't even get that much Jedi training - mostly a crash course on a slightly higher level than a book on "Teach yourself in a week".

The training he got is ambiguous as to how long it was (given movie time it could have been weeks or months, even ignoring the fan theory it may have been years). He didn't get training with it because it wasn't important, no more so then an officer in the navy learning how to use his officer's sword (in the commonwealth nations that's still a thing).

It also makes sense for them to be used in the Vader/Ben fight, as it was a weapon which represented their means of using the force (Ben's being a pure one as it was intended, while Vader a bastardized twisted version of it). The dual was one that honour (even Vader's twisted version of it) demanded be done with a saber, nothing else. It's the reason Vader didn't use underhanded tactics while fighting, despite the pragmatism it would have been to simply kick him while both where using their weapons.

Keep in mind a ceremonial weapon is still a weapon, even if not a pragmatic one (the biggest positive it has, the ability to deflect blaster shots, are depicted as being the equivalent to a real sword doing the dame to a ballistic bullet) it can still kill. Given its use in the originals and how they talked about it, it's basically treated as a weapon that is meant to be there for protection, but not actually used unless needed. It's only when the prequels came in that the weapon and the Jedi in general stopped making sense.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I can think of three reason why it hasn't happened yet-

1. Maybe the blade doesn't slip considering they are made of light/ energy/ plama or what it is and not metal like any real blade we know of.

2. I can easily accept that they simple used the force to repel the lightsaber from sliding closer to their hands.

3. George Lucas didn't think the actual realism of the swordfight when it come to creating it in the first place!

 

[Thaluikhain]

A crossguard is also to stop the wielders hand from slipping down onto the blade, Jedi would have doubly chopped of their own fingers and/or hand. Unless they have such supreme control that never happens, in which case that invalidates all of the angry fanboy arguments about that Lightsabre in the new Star Wars film.

You could have a metal handguard before that, though.

But yeah, lightsabres don't make sense. Also, sword fights on spaceships are a bit dodgy as well.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Lightsabers dont slide. Problem solved.

As to the issue of sliding you hand onto your own blade, if you look closely many of them have enough of guard-like construction to make that less likely. Just look at them closely. Many of them also do not of course, but whatever. XD

You could have a metal handguard before that, though.

But yeah, lightsabres don't make sense. Also, sword fights on spaceships are a bit dodgy as well.

So is using a projectile or energy weapon in a pressurised environment.
Or even just a rifle at close range in a confined space...

 

[Thaluikhain]

So is using a projectile or energy weapon in a pressurised environment.
Or even just a rifle at close range in a confined space...

Depends on the penetrating power and how solid the walls/equipment are.

As for the rifle, police and militaries use them inside buildings, so not seeing the issue.

 

[CrystalShadow]

So is using a projectile or energy weapon in a pressurised environment.
Or even just a rifle at close range in a confined space...

Depends on the penetrating power and how solid the walls/equipment are.

As for the rifle, police and militaries use them inside buildings, so not seeing the issue.

Eh. Depends on what kind of weapon it is, what you're up against, and how organised you are. In some cases firearms in general can be a liability at close range, rather than a help.
Though it depends on just how close things are, and the kind of space you're fighting in.
Also if your opponents have any idea what they're doing.

It's not ideal, but it depends on many factors, and anything is better than a lonsword style weapon indoors. (a large weapon that you have to swing in an arc to use effectively. Of course a real sword can be half-handed, which helps)

It really depends on too many factors though.

 

[SerithVC]

I'm sorry, but have you ever tried to slide a sword down someone else's sword to someone's fingers? If they are even half decent at swordplay, it ain't that easy. Also, don't try and say there was never a crossguard lightsaber before. There have been crossguard lightsabers before, http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Crossguard_lightsaber . Also, when in training they had lightsabers specifically designed not to be lethal so you can't even argue that it would have happened in training. So in short, your wrong and your rant is pointless.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

They don't slide because that's how it works. Star Wars is very very far from reasonable science fiction. If they say that lightsabers don't work that way, then they don't and that should be easy to accept. If you don't call bullshit on mind powers and force ghosts, then what's your problem here?

They are space wizards with supernatural reflexes and precognition using impossible laser swords. Lightsaber duels work the way they do because it's just cooler that way.

 

[The Floating Nose]

Ok. May i ask now. Does it really matter ? I mean, can you suspend your disbelief everything has to be 100% realistic even in a space opera movie ?

 

[Zontar]

Ok. May i ask now. Does it really matter ? I mean, can you suspend your disbelief everything has to be 100% realistic even in a space opera movie ?

You do realize you're asking if the mechanisms behind a fictional object that is impossible in reality are important on a site that is about escapism. The answer to that should a self evident "yes it matters".

 

[Chaos James]

I think it's due to the nature of the Lightsabers, as they tend to lock together when they make contact with each other, sort of sticking. So there isn't really any sliding to be done, about all can be done is push harder or yank your blade away to pull them apart.

Pretty sure most people brought that up when the Ep7 Lightsaber was revealed.